Councillor festive email issue resolved

Over the festive period some councillors were concerned that residents may think they were being ignored due to issues with their emails.

One councillor was under the impression that the issue related to a service provider rather than the council itself, and the problem meant they could not access their messages. Others appear frustrated at being unable to access their emails, with no indication to residents that their messages may not have been seen.

Mark Owen, Chief Officer for Finance and ICT, said: “Just before Christmas, there was a short-term issue which resulted in some councillors being unable to access their emails on their devices. This was caused by an unexpected power failure which disrupted the software. Over a number of days, alternative arrangements were put in place for all councillors to access their emails.

“No emails are inaccessible, lost or undelivered.”

“The supplier has advised on how to fix individual issues, and councillors were contacted from the end of December to receive a relevant software update.

“The facilities are now fully operational, and councillors have been informed that if they believe that they have an issue, they should contact the Council’s ICT help desk in the normal way.”